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Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Cycad flush

I’m fond of many plants. Yes, there are the eponymous bamboos and succulents. But there are so many others. One plant group I’ve taken a particular liking to lately are the cycads. These exotic plants that hark back to the age of the dinosaurs lend a tropical look to any garden. Its most popular member, the sago palm (Cycas revoluta), is a staple of contemporary California landscaping. Like all cycads, it’s slow-growing, but it still grows faster and is hardier than many others.

Here is our sago palm. It’s over 10 years old now and it’s beginning to fill the large terracotta pot that has been its home almost since the beginning.

Cycas revoluta next to our front porch. (The succulent table is partially empty because we just got new gutters and I had to make room for the installers.)

Cycas revoluta

Once a year (or twice, if you’re really lucky) cycads produce a set of new leaves. This is called a “flush,” and I await it as eagerly as new bamboo shoots or cactus flowers.

I spotted the first signs of flushing at the very beginning of the month:

Cycas revolutaJune 1, 2012

Nine days later the new leaves looked like this:

Cycas revolutaJune 10, 2012

And now they look like this:

Cycas revolutaJune 12, 2012

Unlike mature leaves, which are fairly rigid and have sharp tips, the new leaves are very soft and their edges curl inward.

New leaves on Cycas revoluta

New leaves on Cycas revoluta

New leaves on Cycas revoluta

It won’t be long now before the new leaves have reached their final size. They will then harden over a period of four or six weeks.

Our sago palm isn’t the only cycad producing a flush. This small Dioon edule ‘Palma Sola’ is also producing new leaves.

Dioon edule ‘Palma Sola’

It’s exciting to see because this plant was pretty neglected when I bought it (and two others) earlier this year.

It's exciting isn't it when you see your Cycads flushing :) I'm still waiting for any of ours to do the same but because of the cool summer we're having so far it may never happen this year, and if it does it may flush late and never get the chance to harden off before the winter starts. That's what happened to one of ours and it just got frosted away. Well done on yours!

I give it a liberal dose of Osmocote Plus 6-month time release fertilizer twice a year. Check out this article on how to get cycads to flush more often by fertilizing them more than you otherwise might.